Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Shifting a vessel from anchorage to berth once on demurrage

The present post concerns whether time of shifting a vessel from anchorage to the berth is excluded from the laytime or not. Normally, it is excluded. Related charter party clause may look like: “Shifting from waiting berth, if any, to the final loading or discharging berth to be considered as part of the voyage and to be for Owners’ account”. However, the vessel was already on demurrage. The question becomes: “shall the time of shifting be excluded from laytime given that the vessel is already on demurrage?” Once on demurrage, the vessel is always on demurrage. In our case, there was no express provision in the charter party stating that shifting shall be excluded once demurrage. In the book of John Schofield “Laytime and Demurrage”, it is said that “Whether time shifiting from anchorage to berth is excluded once on demurrage has begun to run will normally depend on whether there is an appropriate exception clause in the charter”. The question is whether the Owners were right to exclude time of shifting from laytime?

1 comment:

Since the shifting from anchorage to berth has been defined as part of voyage and not part of laytime, shifting does not come within the ambit of laytime. Hence it is obviously not to be counted even if vsl on demurrage.